Bombay HC rejects petition by 15-year-old rape survivor to abort 28-week pregnancy
The Hindu
The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court recently rejected the plea of a 15-year-old rape survivor to abort her 28-week fetus citing disadvantage of permitting forcible delivery of the child
The Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court recently rejected the petition of a 15-year-old rape survivor to abort her 28-week pregnancy, saying that the medical board opined the baby would be born alive and the life of the girl would also at risk.
A Division Bench of Justices R.V. Ghuge and Y.G. Khobragade was hearing a petition filed by the rape victim’s mother, seeking permission to abort her daughter’s 28-week foetus.
A medical board after examining the girl said even if the termination of pregnancy takes place at this stage, the baby would be born alive and would have to be admitted in a neonatal care unit, and the girl will also be at risk.
The order was passed on June 20 but is made available on Monday. The court said, “If in any case the child is going to be born and the natural delivery is just 12 weeks away, we are of the view that the health of the child and its physical and mental development need to be considered. If later the petitioner desires to give away the child to an orphanage, she shall have the liberty to do so.”
“The disadvantage of permitting forcible delivery of the child today is that the child who would have naturally developed into a well-grown baby will have to be brought into this world at a premature stage and that too forcibly. If the baby is well developed and delivered naturally as a full-term baby, there would be no deformity and the chances of adoption would brighten,” the court said.
The minor’s mother urged the court to permit the girl to be kept in some NGO or at hospital till she delivers the child. The court said the minor could be kept either at a shelter home in Nashik which cares for pregnant women or at the government’s shelter home for women in Aurangabad.
The Opposition Congress demanded that the government open the Gandhi Vatika Museum, depicting Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy and freedom struggle, built at a cost of ₹85 crore in Jaipur’s Central Park last year, during the Congress-led regime in Rajasthan. The museum has not been opened to the public, reportedly because of the administration’s engagements with the State Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
Almaya Munnettam (Lay People to the Fore), group in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church opposed to the synod-recommended Mass, rejected a circular issued by Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil and apostolic administrator Bosco Puthur on June 9 to implement the unified Mass in the archdiocese from July 3.
Pakistan coach Gary Kirsten stated that “not so great decision making” contributed to his side’s defeat to India in the Group-A T20 World Cup clash here on Sunday. The batting unit came apart in the chase, after being well placed at 72 for two. With 48 runs needed from eight overs, Pakistan found a way to panic and lose. “Maybe not so great decision making,” Kirsten said at the post-match press conference, when asked to explain the loss.